It Started with a Kiss
by bellacatbee
Summary: Michael understands the basic idea of kissing, but he doesn't see how it could be a pleasurable pastime. Thankfully, he has Adam to teach him why kissing is important.


In many ways angels were ridiculous. They held all of that phenomenal knowledge in their heads, had stood at the dawn of time and watched the birth of everything considered history, yet in other ways they were so lacking. It was as if they had studied the theory but never attempted the practical.

Adam found it hilarious when Michael understood how to create stars but struggled with something as simple as a microwave. Admittedly, it was slightly annoying when Michael destroyed the microwave. He'd been able to create another one, but it had taken weeks before the smell of burning plastic had completely left the kitchen, even with Adam keeping the windows open and Michael trying to purify the air.

Michael seemed to find television enlightening and frustrating in equal measurers. Adam thought he could understand that. It was Michael's only real insight into human emotions and yet they were inconsistent, overwrought and messy because they were written to a script and not to a truthful reaction.

Adam knew that feelings could be all-over the place, but they tended to have some sense behind them, painful and confusing as it might be, not like the soap-operas that Michael liked to watch. Admittedly, Michael should choose better shows but they were the ones that painted in broad strokes, which showed anger and love and sadness in the biggest, boldest ways. For someone just learning how to feel, it was the simplest way to learn. Adam had thought about buying him some picture books or taking him to the library, to the children's sections where there were books about making sense of emotions but it seemed a little condescending. Michael was an archangel; he shouldn't need something intended for ages three to four, especially as sometimes Michael's emotional development was definitely rooted in the teenage years.

Adam was still only just an adult himself. Being a teenager was close at hand. Sudden surges of hormones, weird intense feelings he didn't really understand, spikes of sadness followed by bursts of anger. Michael fitted all the teenage clichés. Occasionally Adam thought about getting a book on puberty and throwing it at Michael. Angry outbursts were worse when they could come accompanied with superhuman strength. Michael had broken doors off their hinges trying to slam them.

One day he found Michael sitting on the floor of the living room, leaning back against the sofa. It was strange to see him in such a relaxed pose. It was strange to see Michael in the house, the house Adam had grown up in. It had always been only him and his mum. Now his mum was gone and there was another man in the house. However Michael wasn't a man, he was something else entirely. It was still strange to see him there, as if he didn't belong.

"What are you doing?" he asked Michael. The angel looked up at him, his face blank and neutral in a way Adam had long ago learned to distrust. When Michael was trying to appear uninvolved was when he was at his most dangerous. He was almost always plotting something behind that mask of indifference.

"I was wondering about kissing," Michael said, not a flicker or hint of emotion on his face. "They seem to enjoy it very much on The Young and The Restless, but it seems a pointless exercise to me. I imagine it would involve a lot of spit."

Adam rolled his eyes. There were subtler ways of trying to manipulate Adam into kissing him. Michael wouldn't be the first guy who asked to try out his technique on Adam, but he would be the first one who'd never even kissed anyone before. Adam didn't know if he should be flattered or if he should suspect that it was simply the fact that he was close at hand that made him appealing to Michael. Michael could simply want to experiment and the fact that he had chosen Adam had nothing to do with who Adam was to him.

"Right," he said, settling on the floor and scooting up between Michael's spread legs, kneeling right in front of his face. "So I suppose you'd like to learn how to kiss? For science, of course?"

Michael's brow furrowed in confusion but after a moment he nodded. Adam often wondered how the angels coped. Some of them adjusted to normal life, like Gabriel and others like Castiel needed hand-holding. Michael was certainly in that second category. He didn't seem to take to the reality of being trapped on earth in a human vessel and for all the time he spent watching television he still didn't get any of the references.

Adam brought his hands up, cupping Michael's face in them, fingers stroking slowly across Michael's strong jawline.

"First, you want to set the mood, so a little bit of touching," he informed Michael, thinking on his feet. It had been a long time since Adam had kissed anyone. He tried to remember what he'd done but most of his kisses had either been with girls who had taken the lead from Adam or fumbled, hurried things with boys in his room and his door closed even if his mum was working the late shift. He'd normally never tried to set any kind of mood apart from one that ended up with everyone's clothes off. Adam didn't think Michael was ready for that and he still didn't know Michael's intentions so just kissing would have to do for now.

"And then you lean in and…" Adam closed the few inches between them, lips almost touching Michael's. "Then you kiss them."

The first press of Michael's lips against his were resisting. Michael sat as still as a statue, he didn't touch Adam, he didn't try to kiss him back. Adam pulled back after a moment to find Michael's eyes still open and watching him. He frowned.

"And if they don't kiss back then you stop," he said, shifting back, suddenly feeling dirty.

Michael nodded thoughtfully and then surged forward, taking Adam's face in his hands and drawing him back in for a kiss. Adam squeaked in shock, looking into Michael's still open eyes as Michael's mouth moved against his. Slowly, surely, he sunk into Michael's arms, returning the kiss, his eyes falling shut. A second later Michael pulled away and Adam whimpered softly, trying to pull him back in.

"Should I close my eyes?" Michael asked. Adam blinked in surprise.

"Yes, that's normal," he said.

Michael nodded again, a smile spreading across his face. "And is there more?"

"Yes," Adam found himself breathless, anticipating the next kiss and when it came he worked his tongue across the seam of Michael's lips, seeking entrance. After a second of hesitation Michael opened his mouth to him. Adam pressed forward, tongue sneaking into Michael's mouth. Fire flickered through him, warming him from the inside out and Adam gripped at Michael, hoping that this would mean Michael wanted more than just a lesson. Every one of the touches ignited a burning in Adam that he didn't want Michael to douse. Part of Adam didn't want to pull away, didn't want to ask Michael what he wanted because then it might turn out that what Michael wanted was something else completely but Adam was getting hard, almost straddling Michael's lap now and he knew he needed to understand if this was just exploration or something more.

He pulled away, laughing softly as Michael pursed his lips and leant forward, eyes shut tightly, expecting another kiss. This was why he had to ask. Michael in this human form was far too innocent, too open to exploitation that had never existed while he was the Sword of Heaven. It was only this grounding in humanity that did it now and Adam was supposed to be looking after him. He couldn't take advantage of that trust Michael placed in him.

"Michael, open your eyes," he murmured, waiting until Michael realized that he wasn't going to be kissed again and did as he was told. It took a little longer than Adam was used to. Michael was normally good with orders. That was another reason why Adam needed to be certain of Michael's intentions. He hadn't completely grasped the idea of i_free will_/i yet. "What is this? Did you just want to know what it was like to be kissed?"

Michael's grip on him tightened, almost painful and Adam was about to remind him that he was more powerful than Adam when he saw the slight look of embarrassment in Michael's eyes. He was so good at hiding his emotions that for a second Adam wondered if he embarrassed him but it was certainly still there when he looked again. Michael met his gaze. He didn't have enough human knowledge to know he should look away, he was still too much an angel to have completely grasped the nature of shame. Adam had had a hard time forcing him into clothes when they were in private. Michael apparently felt he should take the bible literally and view clothes as the result of sin.

Michael didn't seem to understand boundaries. No clothes, no lack of touching, no fear about invading Adam's personal space when a normal person would take a step back. Suddenly, it was as if someone had flicked a switch in Adam's head and everything was bathed in light. He grappled with the concept of Michael being attracted to him all the time, still not ready to believe that he understood.

"Oh," Adam whispered, feeling the world was shift under him. "Or did you just want to kiss me?"

"I wanted to kiss you," Michael said with no hint of reservation.

"You could have said that, you didn't have to ask me to teach you how to kiss," Adam said, unable to keep the exasperation from his voice.

"I was unsure I would like it," Michael said seriously. Adam couldn't help laughing at that. From anyone else he would have thought it was sarcastic but Michael was nothing if not brutally honest. Michael looked offended and that only made Adam laugh more. He drew in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down and then slid back into Michael's lap, arms around his neck.

"But you did like it, didn't you?"

"Yes," Michael breathed, shifting so they brushed together, Adam huddled tight against him. "I think I would like you to teach me other things Adam, but I would enjoy kissing you again."

"I can teach you everything," Adam promised.

Michael smiled at him, one of the brilliant smiles he reserved for Adam when he was especially pleased with something Adam had shown him and Adam felt his heart skip a beat. He didn't know if this was the right way to introduce Michael to what it meant to be human, to show him free will but it was a beginning. He'd teach Michael what consent really meant, about giving someone a choice and respecting that choice, not suggesting there was a pre-ordained destiny. It was a bit more of a hands on teaching method then he'd previously used but he had the feeling it was one Michael would be amenable to.


End file.
